Standing in the Shadow of Legends

The Legacy of Billy Casper—Hugely Successful, Unflashy, Underrated—Is Still Under Debate

By

Jeff Neuman

Aug. 3, 2012 5:53 p.m. ET

"Tell me," Billy Casper said. "Who were the Big Four at the time of Hogan, Snead and Nelson?"

Jimmy Demaret, I venture, a three-time Masters winner.

ENLARGE

Billy Casper contemplates a putt in the 1973 Ryder Cup at Muirfield Golf Club in Gullane, Scotland.
Getty Images

"You got it," he said. "But the average fan doesn't know. It seems like there's always one who's sort of in the shadows. Fascinating, isn't it?"

Casper spent his career in the considerable shade of golf's most famous Big Three: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. Today, as next week's PGA Championship approaches with no Big Anything in sight—16 different winners in the past 16 majors, and one former Big One who can't seem to put it back together—Casper's career still resonates as a test case for what constitutes golf greatness.

Casper, now 81, is probably the most underrated golfer in the history of the game. He won 51 PGA Tour events, more than anyone who will play in the PGA except Tiger Woods by a large measure (Phil Mickelson is next with 40). Casper is seventh on the career list. He won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average on Tour five times; only Woods has won it more often. He won tournaments in 16 consecutive years; only Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer had longer streaks (17 each).

He won three majors: the 1959 and 1966 U.S. Opens, and the 1970 Masters. He and Mickelson are the only men to appear on eight consecutive U.S. Ryder Cup teams. He has won the most points for the U.S., 23½, while playing in the most matches, 37. Including his year as nonplaying captain, he was involved in nine Ryder Cups without a loss (eight wins and a tie). How does so impressive a career get overlooked?

The Big Three who loomed over Casper were the marquee stars of the dawning age of televised golf, spotlighted for their power and style. Casper was fourth in an era when being fourth left as much impression as it does in the Olympics.

Casper's game wasn't the sort that wowed the spectators. He played with precision more than power, always backed by his exceptional putting. "His course management was as good as I've ever seen," said Gary Player.

The images of Palmer and Casper were solidified by the U.S. Open titles in 1960 and '59, respectively. In the thin air of Cherry Hills outside Denver, Palmer drove the 336-yard par-four first hole to launch his final-round charge that led to victory. In considering the well-trapped and slick greens of Winged Foot, Casper took the opposite approach on the 215-yard par-three third hole.

"There was so much trouble around the green , and the green sloped heavy from the back to the front, so if you hit the ball pin-high it could be a double-bogey very easily," Casper said. "So I decided in the practice rounds that I would lay up. I hit a five- or a six-iron and pitched up, and I made four pars."

The two collided in the final round of the 1966 U.S. Open at Olympic. The aggressive Palmer led by seven shots with nine holes to play when he began making bogeys. Casper stuck to his game plan. In an autobiography, Palmer wrote about the par-three 15th when his own tee shot at the flag wound up in a bunker, while Casper played to the middle of the green and made a 35-footer for birdie: "All I can think at this point is how irritated I am that Casper has been 'playing safe' and is catching up on me."

Said Casper: "I played quite a bit of golf with Arnold, and I've never seen him tighten up like he did at the 16th tee." Palmer's drive on the par-five snap-hooked into the left rough, he tried to muscle a three-iron out of the long grass and failed to make the fairway, then took his medicine and scrambled to make bogey while Casper made birdie. The lead was down to one, and after another Palmer bogey the two were tied. Casper won the playoff the next day.

Casper's quiet personality contributed to his low profile. He was as much known for his diet as for his accomplishments. He suffered from allergies that made it difficult for him to eat commercially raised beef and chicken; a doctor prescribed a rotating diet of wild game, including buffalo, elk, caribou, venison, bear and hippopotamus. In addition, Casper is a devout Mormon, an attribute that made him a bit tougher for fans to relate to in the "Mad Men" era.

Player disagrees that Casper was underrated. "I think he got the recognition he deserved," Player said. "Arnold, Jack and I between us won on the regular Tour and Senior Tour 56 majors. So he wins three majors on the regular Tour and two on the Senior Tour. That's a very vast difference." Player added: "I think to be recognized as a superstar, you've got to win six majors."

By that standard, only Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo are in the conversation since Nicklaus won his last major in 1986. As this season winds down, the calendar is working against Mickelson and Ernie Els, who each have four majors. Among active golfers, only Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington have three.

"The young golfers today are so talented, but I think they don't play enough," Casper said. "They play for so much money, and if they have a really good week they take off several weeks, and it hurts their golf game. But more than that, it hurts the public that are playing to see them play."

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